Designed by Holabird and Roche in 1904, the Chicago Building is one of the finest examples of the Chicago School of Architecture,' a movement that began at the end of the 19th century, producing the world's first tall buildings as well as providing the world with its first original architecture since the Italian High Renaissance. In their design of the Chicago Building, one of the most intact of the early steel frame buildings to be constructed in Chicago, Holabird and Roche incorporated important features of this new high rise architecture. Hallmarks of the period can be seen in the building's 'Chicago windows,' which are characterized by a wide middle window flanked on either side by narrower windows. In its State Street facade continuous piers accentuate the building's 15-story vertical rise. One of the few structures of 'The Chicago School' retains its original cornice, marble-clad lobby and staircase, and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1975. It was designated a Chicago Landmark in 1996'. Source: www.artic.edu/saic/about/why/cbuilding.html